In creating the painting I call Sailing home ( https://www.hendersonsmith.co.uk/product/sailing-home/ ) I came to realise that, although the image had come from a recent walk along the banks of the Camel Estuary, what in fact resonated for me here were memories of boyhood holidays along the South Devon coast; my brother and I half living, half imagining Swallows and Amazons type adventures* as our parents and younger sisters looked on from the nearby shore. Here again it was lingering over colour and form that brought this resonance to mind. I’ve aimed to embody my enjoyment of such resonances in the way I’ve painted these pieces. Of course viewers aren’t going to know about such personal references unless, like yourselves they’ve been informed about them. Nevertheless I’m confident that, as long as I can bring my sense of joy into making each painting, people will be able to bring in their own associations to enrich their viewing.

This painting ( https://www.hendersonsmith.co.uk/product/summer-evening-corner-st-columb/ ) grew out of wandering within earshot of one of a series of chamber music evenings given by Harmonimusik, an ensemble that visits us here in St Columb every summer. I’d been able to attend an earlier concert in the series but this time I had been looking after a display of my paintings nearby beforehand and would return there during the interval to meet browsers. The resonance here was clearly related to the music I could distantly hear. In this painting I therefore aimed to let the interlocking planes of stone and hanging slate, gable-ends and roof sections sing together through colour and pattern.